Tokyo Jury Head Rolf de Heer Says FIAPF's A-List Changes Little for the Festival

Rolf de Heer, the Australian filmmaker behind "Bad Boy Bubby" and "Ten Canoes," does not expect FIAPF's newly official A-list to alter much at the Tokyo International Film Festival. He leads the competition jury at the festival's 39th edition.

Speaking at the jury press conference on Tuesday, de Heer was asked whether the classification carries real meaning or is simply redundant. "I think Tokyo has always been considered one of those festivals by most people who attend festivals. Tokyo was effectively an A festival. And so in that sense, I don't think it makes a lot of difference," he said.

He acknowledged, however, that the label appears to weigh more heavily when it comes to the quality of films a festival can attract. "And so in that sense, it may help that it is officially now again A, but I don't think it changes the festival so much," he said.

In March, FIAPF, the international federation of film producers' associations, dropped its four-category accreditation structure in favor of a single list. It named 17 festivals as A-list, a term the industry had long used informally. Cannes, Berlin, Venice, Toronto, Busan, Shanghai, Cairo and Tokyo are among them, and Busan and Toronto appear on the list for the first time.

Korean producer Oh Jungwan, founder of Bom Film Productions and a producer of "The Foul King," "A Tale of Two Sisters" and "A Bittersweet Life," said de Heer had covered the question and described herself as "not a film festival person." She added that she assumed A-list "means good," but that audiences do not attend a festival for its ranking. "We just go to watch film and enjoy the feeling, the festival feeling," she said.

A journalist who had hoped someone would challenge a system that places some festivals above others pressed the point. De Heer's closing answer was: "It matters a great deal to some people, and not at all to others. And that is as it should be."

The other jurors are Japanese actor Watanabe Makiko, New York- and Tokyo-based producer Alex Lo of Cinema Inutile, and Tokyo-based colorist Yov Moor. They did not comment on the classification. The five-member panel will select the Tokyo Grand Prix from 15 competition titles, and the festival continues through Nov. 4.

De Heer was also asked about Australia-Japan co-productions. He said it makes no sense for a Japanese film to shoot in Australia or the reverse, and that Europe handles co-productions well on a purely financial basis while Australia does not. Projects built on a natural story that requires shooting in both countries will always be possible, he said, "if the scripts come and if they are right."

Lo, whose "Heads or Tails?" won best director at Tokyo last year, said producers in Europe, the U.S. and elsewhere are increasingly seeking co-production opportunities, largely because local government support is lacking.

On how a divided jury would settle on a winner, de Heer said it would depend on the circumstances. He expressed confidence that his four fellow jurors could avoid a compromised result and arrive at "a really interesting film that maybe some of us don't like." Oh, serving on a Tokyo jury for the second time, recalled once arguing for seven hours on behalf of a film, saying every other juror hated her for it. She hoped she would not have to fight de Heer for seven hours this time.